Many horsemen throughout the country are breathing a collective sigh of relief now that it appears that the equine herpes virus, or EHV-1, outbreak in Florida is under control (see p. 114). It was a close call for those who make Wellington home for the winter months. The crisis, which began Nov. 29 when the initial, or index, case arrived from New York, had put the Mecca of winter showing on hold indefinitely as more and more barns in the area were affected.

And, now that the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Animal Industry, is slowly removing state-ordered quarantine tape from area barns, horsemen are taking stock of the situation, counting their losses (six horses dead) and moving forward with a wary new outlook on communicable diseases.

The last infected horse was identified in late December, so now that the 21-day incubation period has passed, it’s business as usual again on the Winter Equestrian Festival circuit, Littlewood and Ocala–or is it? Some horsemen say this crisis has left an indelible mark on their horsemanship, they’re now taking quarantine and bio-security measures much more seriously in their barns. New horses aren’t just enveloped seamlessly into the program when they step off the van from another barn, state or, especially, foreign country. People are thinking about creative ways to separate new horses from the others if no isolation barn is available, they’re maintaining grooming tools and tack for each horse, and even considering disinfectants just as important as fly spray in the daily routine.

What’s most disconcerting about this disease to me, however, is that an outbreak like this can occur anywhere and at anytime–for example, we’ve had several other EHV-1 outbreaks in the past month in Connecticut and at a race track in California that reportedly have no direct relation to the outbreak in Florida. All it takes is one carrier horse who becomes stressed through long-distance travel or an injury or other illness, for instance, to initiate another major occurrence somewhere else.

And, the next time EHV-1 strikes it could be worse–much worse. Just imagine if a horse were to travel to and compete at one of our fall indoor horse shows before his illness were discovered? The implications are mind-boggling–the close quarters of the stabling and swapping stalls, horses standing together in tight clusters awaiting the jog, then perhaps being shipped together to a temporary facility before returning to their home stables, which could be New York or California or anywhere in between.

Unfortunately, it appears that EHV-1 in its neurologic form is a virus that’s not only here to stay, but also one that might be becoming more common. While research is certainly warranted before we’ll know this for sure, the virus has made headlines more often in the past few years, with the tragic 2003 outbreak at the University of Findlay (Ohio) as many horsemen’s wake-up call.

The U.S. Equestrian Federation has established EHV-1 protocols for licensed shows in Florida (see p. 116) as a result of the outbreak. Their press release states it’s a temporary measure, but perhaps protocols like this should be considered for our larger horse shows and circuits, where many horses travel from great distances and intermingle before going their separate ways again.

Even if another outbreak doesn’t occur in our world in the immediate future, it’s important that we don’t become complacent. If we’re going to continue to place our horses in high-risk situations, we need to stop thinking about EHV-1 as a rare occurrence and, instead, more as a constant threat.

Tricia Booker